Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”…LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1986.

Here's the cover of The NY Daily News from Monday, June 30th, 1986. At the time of the LGBTQ Pride Parade in 1986, even as I was headlining at the major clubs in NYC and around the country, I also happened to have been going through some serious misadventures involving a stock broker, the (now defunct!) brokerage house Thompson/McKinnon, a taxi cab accident, back due rent, and a major rent strike at the Ansonia! (talk about material for a memoir!)... and in the middle of all that drama there was the centennial of the Statue of Liberty with all the Tall Ships coming to town along with the President and foreign dignitaries to see it unveiled, newly refurbished and restored and with a brand new 24kt torch flame gleaming over the city. In the Pride Parade just days before the huge celebration on the 4th, I celebrated the centennial in my own way with my own "Liberty" outfit of gold lamé (by Cliff Boone and Morrie Breyer at A.Q.U.A.) and a custom-made torch (that actually lit up!). It was all great fun, and another triumphant parade for the LGBTQ community. But that's not the end of the story...  

The gloriously beautiful Monday morning after the parade, I had to face all the challenges of the rent strike, being broke, dealing with being swindled along with several other gullible guys, bills, deadlines, threats of eviction, blah, blah, blah, etc, etc. I knew I had to eat a good breakfast or I'd be nauseated the rest of the day with cramps, so I headed to the diner by my corner news stand!... and the nice Moroccan man behind the counter suddenly screamed gleefully at me pointing and waving a copy of the Daily News in front of a sidewalk full of staring commuters, "Derr! I tell you! I TELL YOU!! Derr is da lady! Derr is da LADY!!! You, meester! You ARE DA LADEEEE! Ha! HA! HAAA! YOU ARE DA LADEEEE!"...

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Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1986.

Here we are for the 1986 LGBTQ Pride Parade just rounding the corner of Central Park West and onto West 59th Street. That’s the old New York Coliseum Building in the background which was demolished in 2000 for the towering steel-and-glass Time Warner Center. (imagine how furious Jackie Onassis would have been had she lived to see that!) This was the old parade route too; starting at Central Park West at West 70th Street all the way down to 59th and Central Park South at Columbus Circle (shown here), then across to 5th Avenue, down to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, across to Christopher Street and Sheridan Square, and then all the way down to the festival on the Hudson River. This was the year of the rededication of the newly restored and refurbished Statue of Liberty for its Centennial. All of Washington DC and scores of foreign dignitaries, celebrities, and VIPs showed up for the ceremonies, the arrival of the Tall Ships, performances by major music stars, and the most expensive fireworks display at that time! And there Mummie was, roasting in her gold lamé, in Luke Valenti's vintage convertible with deflating balloons and GCN folks from NYC and Cincinnati draped all over the hood!... ah, good times... good times!

[Well, clearly, I wasn't making THAT much history... after all, as we all know, RuPaul invented drag... nothing basically came before... oh well! All of us over at the newly created Gay Cable Network (on the newly invented cable television system) were too busy making sure that we filmed and photographed everything in case someone decided to shoot me for the audaciousness of having muscles and a strapless Statue of Liberty dress on! The idea was the same as the press coverage of the Hindenburg back in the 30's... everyone felt that something horrible could happen at any minute so why not always be on stand-by for that "great photo op"!]

(Photo by Diana Di Prima. Sybil’s gown by Cliff Boone and Morrie Breyer at A.Q.U.A.)

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Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1986.

Here we are for the LGBTQ Pride Parade just rounding the corner of Central Park West and onto West 59th Street. This was the old parade route too; starting at Central Park West at West 70th Street all the way down to 59th and Central Park South at Columbus Circle (shown here), then across to 5th Avenue, down to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, across to Christopher Street and Sheridan Square, and then all the way down to the festival on the Hudson River. This was the year of the rededication of the newly restored and refurbished Statue of Liberty for its Centennial. All of Washington DC and scores of foreign dignitaries, celebrities, and VIPs showed up for the ceremonies, the arrival of the Tall Ships, performances by major music stars, and the most expensive fireworks display at that time! And there Mummie was, roasting in her gold lamé, in Luke Valenti's vintage convertible with deflating balloons and GCN folks from NYC and Cincinnati draped all over the hood!... ah, good times... good times!

[Well, clearly, I wasn't making THAT much history... after all, as we all know, RuPaul invented drag... nothing basically came before... oh well! All of us over at the newly created Gay Cable Network (on the newly invented cable television system) were too busy making sure that we filmed and photographed everything in case someone decided to shoot me for the audaciousness of having muscles and a strapless Statue of Liberty dress on! The idea was the same as the press coverage of the Hindenburg back in the 30's... everyone felt that something horrible could happen at any minute so why not always be on stand-by for that "great photo op"!]

(Photo by Mark Garrett. Sybil’s gown by A.Q.U.A)

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Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1985.

Rounding the corner at Central Park South (59th Street) at 5th Avenue in my custom made gown by Cliff Boone and Morrie Breyer at A.Q.U.A. with Luke Valenti driving the Gay Cable Network convertible. That’s the Plaza Hotel in the background. (photo by Diana Di Prima)

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Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1985.

Getting into place on Central Park West and W. 62nd St. before the start-up. This was the OLD parade route which started in the West 70s on CPW, went down to Columbus Circle, crossed over along 59th Street to 5th Avenue past the Plaza Hotel, then all the way down to Washington Square Park, then meandered through Greenwich Village, past the historic Stonewall Inn and Sheridan Square, and down Christopher to the festival on the Hudson. Yes... it DID take about 3 days! LOLOLOL! NYC, 1985

(photo by Ferdinando Scianna, Sybil’s gown by Cliff Boone and Morrie Breyer at A.Q.U.A., Jewelry by Jesse Galvez of J. Antonio, and Larry Vrba)

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